Quote:
Originally Posted by aap1966
There is evidence that distracted driver laws actually INCREASE the incidence of distraction related accidents.
The possible explanation is that in States with distracted driver laws, drivers still use their mobile devices, but attempt to hide the device out of sight. This results in greater time with eyes off the road. So the laws to decrease the incidence of these traffic accidents paradoxically may increase them.
The ideal solution may be a campaign to make device use socially unacceptable, but not illegal.
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That is a misinformed piece of "reasoning". Holding the phone to your face is not the cause of the danger.
The problem with cel phone usage by the driver of a motor vehicle stems from our brains fruitless search for visual clues to support the message from the person on the other end of the conversation. We do this automatically when we speak to another face to face. It is part of the communication process. (A. Mehrabian UCLA)
In a telephone conversation, the other person is not visible and the part of the driver's brain normally engaged in the search for the visual component of communication happens to be that same part of the brain which would normally be aware of our surroundings, exits, hazards, etc. A niece of mine was involved in studies at U of Toronto a couple of decades back monitoring the brain activities of subjects with MRI while the subjects were engaged in activities simulating driving and speaking with someone not physically present.
The amount of time it takes to dis-engage from the mental process of determining the missing visual clues in the conversation in order to react to the driving situation is equivalent to legal imparement.
It might be inconvenient but just hang up and drive. We're just not wired to do both at the same time.
Best
Les